mbrun

As has been mentioned, the ARRL has a book on the subject of Ground and bonding. Information can be found here: http://www.arrl.org/grounding-and-bonding-for-the-amateur. If you are in the mode of learning, purchase and read it.

The ARRL also has links to a lot of other references for those that care to dig in deeper. But be aware that there are competing theories amongst true experts about the ‘Best’ way.

From a pure safety standpoint, the National Electric Code describes the minimum requirements. This means, in part, that the NEC does not concern itself with RF grounding in any way that may help or hinder radio performance. Anything you may choose to do special for RF is over and above. So, at a minimum, follow the national electric code. At least if when you do, should you have a lose from lighting, your insurance company should have no leg to stand-on in denying your claim.


Now, let’s consider a common installation and a common and appropriate method of grounding. Here is the scenario.

You have a 30 foot metal antenna mast mounted outside, next to and attached to your home. A vertical antenna is mounted to the top of the mast. Your radio will be located in a first floor room or in the basement. The coaxial cable will enter the home within a few feet of the mast.

Hear are the steps involved.

A ground rod would be driven into the ground within a couple feet of the base of the mast. A heavy copper wire (#6 AWG) or larger would be used to interconnect the mast to this ground rod. Clamps made for this purpose would be used to secure the wire at both ends.

A coax of appropriate type and length is attached to your antenna. The coax runs down and is secured to the mast periodically so it does not flail in the wind. A coaxial cable lighting arrestor gets attached directly to the ground rod. The antenna coax attaches to the appropriate port on the arrestor.

A 2nd coax connects to the remaining port on the arrestor and is runs into your home and connects to your radio. The penetration into the home is sealed well against moisture ingress.

A #6AWG copper bonding conduction is then run below ground between your new ground rod to your home’s main/primary electrical ground rod. This bonding conductor is then securely connected to both ground rods. Clamps made for exactly this purpose are used. This step ensures both ground rods are now at the same voltage potential.

If your conditions are different, then some additions to, or modifications of this basic scenario will be warranted. In the end however, the basic principles will still be applied, just perhaps in a more complex configuration.

In summary, the mast gets connected to its own dedicated ground rod(s). A ground rod exists exists within feet of where the coaxial cable enters the home. The coaxial cable from the antenna gets connected to a lighting arrestor just before it enters the home. The lighting arrestor is either attached directly to the ground rod or interconnected to it with heavy copper cable (if it cannot be conductively mounted directly to it for some reason). All ground rods are bonded together with heavy copper cable per the NEC.

And there you have it, the basics.

If you pursue knowledge on this topic you will learn that none of these precautions will prevent damage to and perhaps total loss of your equipment in the event of a direct hit. Direct hits do happen to home antennas, but are relatively rare. What is far more common is lighting strikes nearby that induce voltage on your antenna system, and the static build up on the antenna system that can shock you or damage your equipment. It is these later two more common conditions that these steps ultimately help you with.

Good luck on your project.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

Just as an update, sent my radio in last week. Received the tested replacement and I get 48.7 watts. So that’s much better now!

I find nothing wrong with combination of product. Looks like you have a workable solution as identified.

I do however prefer to use of a BNC connector on the radio and whole-heartedly agree with the recommendation of using a 90-degree BNC to connector at the radio, whether you are using a cable with a permanent 90-degree connector, or a cable with an adapter.

I have and use the the following adapters on my KG-805G
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CVQK466/

If you use a 90-degree BNC adapter for this, make sure you order the 50 ohm version vs 75. I am using the following:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0774FZCXW

I own and use an Ed Fong, but I also have an use a Comet CA-712EFC. The comet has more gain, but the Ed-Fong is still viable and can be better choice under certain conditions.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

Quite simple…obstacles. Trees, homes, water towers, rolling hills.

The repeater antenna is somewhere around 900’ higher in elevation than mine. If you connected my antenna to the repeater antenna with a string, it would pass through very few trees and likely very few or no buildings. In contrast, when talking simplex (mobile or HT to base), the signal needs to pass through many thousands of trees, homes commercial buildings other obstacles.

You will hear over and over that GMRS is line so sight communications. This means if you have clear line of sight (i.e. your antennas can literally see one another) you can talk great distances. However, every obstacle you put between your transmit and receive antenna attenuates your signal and thus lessens your effective distance. The worst of these is the earth.

Midland gets away with misleading advertising of ‘37 miles’ because they actually can go 37 miles…if both radios are in outer space where there are no obstacles. Hear on earth…typically 1/2-2 miles.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

Manufacturer rates it for 112mph. You just need to do your part to secure it well.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

Thanks Michael! 

Actually , I am pretty familiar with Wouxun radios.  While I only have one other, a UVD1P I picked up at a hamfest years ago, my other half, however, seems to collect them and really struggles with the programming. LOL!

I'm pretty sure I wasn't using the menu incorrectly, but I totally agree with your comments on entering data that way. 

Kinda funny, when I picked up the UVD1P, the guy selling them had no idea how to program anything into it and was stunned when after a few seconds I had figured out the menu system.  They really are not that difficult, but then I've been in radio for over 50 years (retired now).

Thanks for the heads up on the UV8D.  I have been reading through the manual and watching reviews.  Quite frankly, I really don't need another Ham HT, so it's not like I'm ready to buy one (yet).

I really do like the 935G though, it is a really decent radio for the money and, as I noted before, I wanted to have a 'completely legal' radio for GMRS. I am not one for doing the 'MARS' mods on my ham rigs. Besides, I have a couple of commercial HTs that don't need the mods anyway.

In any event, Thanks Again for the comments!

 

I have extensive experience with the 935G and have put its menus through its paces quite hard. What specific menus are you perceiving issues with?

If you are new to Wouxun radios, there is a bit of a learning curve. One such nuisance is the fact that the ‘Menu’ key doubles as the ‘Enter’ key. If you do not press it after making a change, your change will not be saved. So your sequence is always [Menu], navigate to your desired menu function, then [Menu], then make your setting change, then [Menu] again. Also if you press [Exit] at any time, or if you wait too long before pressing menu again, your change is lost.

Also, the TX CTCSS and TX DCS are mutually exclusive, as are the RX CTCSS and RX DCS. If you press [Menu] when any one of these is selected, it clears the one that is not selected. So NEVER press [Menu] when any of the these is active unless you are intending to store what is currently displayed to clear its mutually exclusive counterpart. Every Wouxun model I have ever played with behaves exactly the same.

The amateur version of the 935G, the KG-UV8H, is not as polished. It also has an issue with the DTMF [1] button in that it will only chirp. It will not produce a DTMF tone for the duration of the press, perhaps making it useless for you. While the models look the same and have the same internals, the 935G provides the superior user experience. The UV-8H’s menus are more cryptic, and not as well organized.

Enjoy your radio.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

I have extensive experience with the 935G and have put its menus through its paces quite hard. What specific menus are you perceiving issues with?

If you are new to Wouxun radios, there is a bit of a learning curve. One such nuisance is the fact that the ‘Menu’ key doubles as the ‘Enter’ key. If you do not press it after making a change, your change will not be saved. So your sequence is always [Menu], navigate to your desired menu function, then [Menu], then make your setting change, then [Menu] again. Also if you press [Exit] at any time, or if you wait too long before pressing menu again, your change is lost.

Also, the TX CTCSS and TX DCS are mutually exclusive, as are the RX CTCSS and RX DCS. If you press [Menu] when any one of these is selected, it clears the one that is not selected. So NEVER press [Menu] when any of the these is active unless you are intending to store what is currently displayed to clear its mutually exclusive counterpart. Every Wouxun model I have ever played with behaves exactly the same.

The amateur version of the 935G, the KG-UV8H, is not as polished. It also has an issue with the DTMF [1] button in that it will only chirp. It will not produce a DTMF tone for the duration of the press, perhaps making it useless for you. While the models look the same and have the same internals, the 935G provides the superior user experience. The UV-8H’s menus are more cryptic, and not as well organized.

Enjoy your radio.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

Welcome to myGMRS. Enjoy the forum, learn, then pay it forward to the next members.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

@HCCFCA I have some seriously good news for you. Who says an old dog can’t learn new tricks? This old dog just learned one! What is it? There is indeed a way to create new repeater channels on the KG-1000G on the fly! Why did I miss it? Blinded by behavior expectations derived from past experiences.

You can build a repeater memory channel from scratch, you can copy an existing one into new memory channel, and you can completely overwrite and existing one with a new one. WooHoo!

First the reference. On Page 40 of the owners manual you will find some supporting information.

Lets start with an easy one. Duplicating an existing channel.

Lets say you have an existing repeater channel that works on a 550. Now lets say you encounter a need to add another 550 repeater, only with different codes and name.

1) Activate the existing memory channel on your radio that you wish to duplicate. (The next steps will copy its settings into a new memory location).
2) Press [4] on your keypad.
3) Enter the three digit memory channel location you want to want to receive the current channels settings. (Make sure you enter all 3 digits).
4) Press [Menu]. You just duplicated the configuration, all except the name and the new channel becomes the current channel.
5) Press [Menu]+[2]+[2]+[Menu] to enter channel naming mode.
6) Enter a name for the channel using your keypad. (Refer to page 50 of the manual for how to do this).
7) Press [Menu] when complete. Whatever name appeared on the display at this time is now the name of your new new channel.
8) While keeping your new channel the active channel, customize its CTCSS and DCS settings to suit. You’re now done.

The hardest and most time consuming part of the above is channel naming. Other than that, pretty simple.

This next sequence is for creating a repeater memory channel from scratch.

1) Put your radio into VFO mode.
2) Enter the Rx frequency.
3) Press [7] key multiple times until only a ‘+’ symbol appears above the displayed frequency.
4) Press [Menu]+[4]+[Menu]+[0]+[0]+[5]+[Menu]. (This establishes the 5 MHz offset frequency).
5) Complete entry of your preference of CTCSS and DCS codes. (Refer to owners manual).
6) Press [4] on your keypad.
7) Enter the three digit memory channel location you want to want to receive the current settings. (Make sure you enter all 3 digits).
8) Press [Menu] to commit the number. You just created a new memory configuration.
8) Switch radio to Channel Mode. Your radio should be on the channel you just created.
9) Enter the channel name as described in the steps described earlier.

An there you have it. Fully field programmable.

* An important note. You must move pretty quickly through the steps otherwise the radio times out and returns to normal operation. You will find yourself repeating steps if you do not move fast enough.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

Interesting to come across this post from 2019 after all this time, and noticed my name was mentioned. I'm the person Jeff mentioned (Tip O' The Hat, Jeff).  All I can say to follow up is that we have a GMRS-based Neighborhood Radio Watch program up in running here in El Dorado County, with about 350 radios distributed and more going out each week. This is a Ham/non-Ham partnership using five GMRS repeaters set up across the county.

As a general rule you do not need to have an SWR meter when purchasing and using a purpose-built antenna like the Ed-Fong and a number of others. However, as you will learn, having some basic test equipment in your radio tool box can be incredibly helpful when installing a radio and antenna system, confirming operation and when trying to diagnose problems. In the consumer radio world, the SWR meter is probably the simplest and most fundamental of all radio tools. In my view however, you should plan to get one, and learn how to use it.

To second question, the SWR is checking exactly what? I could give you a detailed explanation, but I thing I will defer you to youtube and google as there is far more out there that will do your question justice then any simple answer I can give here on the forum. In a nutshell, the SWR meter is used to gives you a sense of how well you antenna system matches (is tuned) to what the radio is expecting to experience on the frequencies you’ll be operating on. If it is not tuned well or is defective your radio could perform poorly or perhaps even be damaged.

Google ‘What is SWR’.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

Scan-Mode (function 15) has three settings. One setting aborts scanning when a signal is detected, one pauses for 5 seconds when a signal is detected and then continues, one pauses until the channel has been clear for 5 seconds and then continues.

Try the different settings to determine which one works best for you.

Regards,


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

And the rest of the story...
Well...My worry about hammering in the ground rod was justified...Not! After about half an hour of hammering the ground rod, it went in as easy as I could have hoped for. Being near the house, I suspect that fill dirt was originally pushed up against the foundation when the house was built but without the rocks found on the rest of the property. So I pounded away and got it it in. If it had been a few feet away from the foundation, I would have needed a hammer drill or stick of dynamite.
Now it's wiring up the bonding wire from the mast to the rod and from the rod to the house ground by the electrical meter.
Thanks guys.

Thanks for the input!

Just for the record, for those of you who do want to learn Morse Code, the Jerry Ziliak Morse Code cassettes, have been digitized to CD and are available at Amazon.
His system is brilliant and easy to learn.
He teaches each letter, number and punctuation mark by sending them in a series of 5 times at 21 Words Per Minute, but spacing between each letter, so that it is being sent at a true rate of only 5 WPM.
That way your brain becomes accustomed to hearing each character at a fast 21 WPM but the brain is given time to hear, learn and decode it.
Then as you practice, he reduces the spacing per character, so that your reception speed slowly increases, per your need, to higher speeds.
This is how I learned to be able to receive 20 WPM Morse Code back in 1995, obtain my Amateur Extra class license and qualify for the first ever round of Vanity callsigns back in that day.
And I enjoyed CW contacts all the way to the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia through my old Drake TR4Cw and a G5RV antenna (good sunspot cycle back in those days, too)!

I know we all like things free, but I have no problem with even the current $70/10-year license fee, so long as that fee is being used for the constructive benefit of the radio community. Paying for the purpose of ‘covering adminstrative costs of issuing a license’ makes no sense. Paying for enforcement efforts, authoring of technical criteria, organizing the bands and the administration of efforts that end up benefiting the masses are appropriate and should be expected.

I agree that the GMRS license is a good personal value since it does cover you and your immediate family members. However, I do not however see how GMRS is ‘gonna be better than the ham’ unless the sole comparison is the average number of body’s covered per license. Ham radio exists for public service and to provide the spectrum for the technically inclined to experiment and innovate. GMRS is for short-distance local communications with family and friends. A ham license affords the user much greater chunks of spectrum and virtually no bounds in terms of what technology can be used, including technology the user develops themselves. That is not going to happen and should not happen on GMRS. As a GMRS user you expect to buy equipment, turn it on and it just works.

I agree that the pandemic has perhaps caused more to get their GMRS license. But I suspect that is the case for amateur license as well. I obtained my first GMRS license 15-20 years ago. I finally obtained by ham license during the pandemic. While I have not looked up the numbers, I suspect both services have seen an increase in licenses during this period.

As far as increasing the power from 50 to 100 watts (3dB). I truly do not see the practical upside to such a minuscule increase, and downsides if it was increased substantially more. Given that GMRS is already line-of-sight communications and takes very low power to go long unobstructed distances, and given that 3dB is lost very quickly through a sequence of obstacles, the benefit of the added power is really negligible. However if it was increased substantially, up from 50 to say 1000 or more, the effect on existing services operating on adjacent frequencies could suffer.

The FCC has a fine balancing act to perform when it carves up the spectrum and establishes the technical criteria for each service. Even a bigger challenge when some new technology comes along that has different RF requirements.

Just one man’s opinion.

Regards,


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

The CW requirement was the dominant reason why I was delayed 40+ years getting my ticket. I had much of the other knowledge and skills. It was only after meeting and talking with a local ham that I met on my street and learning CW requirement as dropped that I final tested. If not for that chance encounter, I still would not have it.

Had CW been something you learned after becoming a ham, ARRL would have been receiving my membership dues for all those missing years.

I do appreciate CW and respect those with the skills to master it, I also know first hand that it serves as a barrier to entry. I imagine during my retirement years I will force myself to learn it to make more brain connections. An old dog learning new tricks.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

I use the ALINCO DM330MVT. When operating radios at 50-watts and less (
I have not viewed the PS signal on a scope so I cannot speak to the actual noise on its output. At VHF and UHF frequencies however I have observed no perceptible difference in receive audio quality between power supply and battery operation in the shack.

For over a year I have been pleased with the power supply performance.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

Looks like have made great improvement. Can’t speak to ‘1.01’ being as low as the 33 can go, but 1.00:1 is lowest theoretically possible value you could possibly achieve.

Looks like you are getting some good numbers now. Enjoy.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

@fremont on your 935 you can readily create separate memory channels that hold narrow-band versions of all frequencies. If you name the channels FRS-01 through FRS-22 that should be clearly identifiable for you. Your channels named with GMRS prefix would be wide-band, FRS prefix would be narrow-band. As far as your mobile unit, I would image you could do the same, but I am leaving that to those familiar with your particular model.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

@Tyke I strongly encourage you to ground and bond your system correctly. If you have any cable from an antenna system entering your home, you really do want it grounded and bonded to your main electrical ground. But it must done properly. Done improperly, or not at all, you could at times have a very unsafe voltage potential between things in your home and the shield and/or center conductor of your feed line. Doing it properly is not difficult, but does come at some added expense. Also, if you are insured, take a hit, and have a savvy insurance company, they may not cover you if they can deduce that at least the NEC minimum requirements were not followed.

Good luck on your project. I look forward to seeing the appearance of your final installation.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

@WROZ437 your getting good advice hear. You only need as much power as you need to reach the parties you trying to communicate with, and no more. As has been said, antenna and antenna height are more impactful that raw power. A 1-watt radio connected to a well placed antenna will outperform a 50-watt radio with a low poorly placed antenna. A shift from 5 to 50 watts will push through some obstacles a little more, your effective real-world usable distance will only increase slightly. So there is nothing wrong with 50, but also nothing wrong with 15 or 25 either.

Personally, on my base and mobile radios I frequently operate at mid and low power until or unless I need the added power to improve my audio level to a station I am communicating with, if they are receiving a low signal from me. I am not on high-power all the time.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

Wanted to start a fresh thread for the purpose of capturing key facets of programming this radio. While some information may be covered elsewhere, I thought it would not hurt to repost and consolidate here.
 
—— Duplicating an Existing Memory Channel Configuration
 
1. Put your radio into channel mode. The active receiver area of the display should display a channel number (e.g. CH-014) in the upper right corner of the active receiver area.
2. Select the channel you want to duplicate.
3. Press [Menu]+[3]+[8]+[Menu]. Some channel number will appear.
4. Scroll to (or direct enter) the memory channel you wish to receive the configuration.
5. Press [Menu]+[Exit] to commit/save your selection. You now have duplicated an existing channel configuration.
6. Scroll to (or direct enter) the memory channel you just added.
7. Press [Menu]+[3]+[7]+[Menu] to activate the channel naming function.
8. Enter your desired name for the new memory channel by using the channel up arrow to scroll through all available characters and symbol choices, and the down arrow to scroll through each character position. Once the name is as you desire, continue to next step.
9. Press [Menu]+[Exit] to save and view your final name appearance.
10. Change the CTCSS and DCS codes on the channel to suit.
 
—— Creating a new Repeater Channel from Scratch.
 
1. Put your radio into VFO mode. No channel numbers (e.g. CH-014) should appear in the upper right corner of the active receiver area.
2. Scroll to (or direct enter) the repeater frequency you wish to use.
3. Press [Menu]+[4]+[Menu]+[1]+[Menu]. This tells the channel to operate duplex for use with a repeater.
4. Set the CTCSS and DCS codes to suit for the repeater you’re using.
5. Press [Menu]+[3]+[Menu]+[1]+[Menu]+[Exit]. This sets the radio to Wide-band to work best with the repeaters.
6. Press [Menu]+[3]+[8]+[Menu]. Some channel number will appear.
7. Scroll to (or direct enter) the memory channel number you wish to receive the configuration.
8. Press [Menu]+[Exit] to commit/save your selection. You now have a fresh memory channel created and available to use.
9. Put your radio into channel mode.
10. Scroll to (or direct enter) the memory channel you just added.
11. Press [Menu]+[3]+[7]+[Menu] to activate the channel naming function.
12. Enter your desired name for the new channel by using the channel up arrow to scroll through all available characters and symbol choices, and the down arrow to scroll through each character position. Once the name is as you desire, continue to next step.
13. Press [Menu]+[Exit] to save and view your final name appearance. You have now created and named a completely new, from scratch, repeater channel for your radio.
 
If I have misstated any steps, private message me and I will update this post to keep the thread on track and more beneficial to future readers.
 
 
Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

@HCCFCA I have some seriously good news for you. Who says an old dog can’t learn new tricks? This old dog just learned one! What is it? There is indeed a way to create new repeater channels on the KG-1000G on the fly! Why did I miss it? Blinded by behavior expectations derived from past experiences.

You can build a repeater memory channel from scratch, you can copy an existing one into new memory channel, and you can completely overwrite and existing one with a new one. WooHoo!

First the reference. On Page 40 of the owners manual you will find some supporting information.

Lets start with an easy one. Duplicating an existing channel.

Lets say you have an existing repeater channel that works on a 550. Now lets say you encounter a need to add another 550 repeater, only with different codes and name.

1) Activate the existing memory channel on your radio that you wish to duplicate. (The next steps will copy its settings into a new memory location).
2) Press [4] on your keypad.
3) Enter the three digit memory channel location you want to want to receive the current channels settings. (Make sure you enter all 3 digits).
4) Press [Menu]. You just duplicated the configuration, all except the name and the new channel becomes the current channel.
5) Press [Menu]+[2]+[2]+[Menu] to enter channel naming mode.
6) Enter a name for the channel using your keypad. (Refer to page 50 of the manual for how to do this).
7) Press [Menu] when complete. Whatever name appeared on the display at this time is now the name of your new new channel.
8) While keeping your new channel the active channel, customize its CTCSS and DCS settings to suit. You’re now done.

The hardest and most time consuming part of the above is channel naming. Other than that, pretty simple.

This next sequence is for creating a repeater memory channel from scratch.

1) Put your radio into VFO mode.
2) Enter the Rx frequency.
3) Press [7] key multiple times until only a ‘+’ symbol appears above the displayed frequency.
4) Press [Menu]+[4]+[Menu]+[0]+[0]+[5]+[Menu]. (This establishes the 5 MHz offset frequency).
5) Complete entry of your preference of CTCSS and DCS codes. (Refer to owners manual).
6) Press [4] on your keypad.
7) Enter the three digit memory channel location you want to want to receive the current settings. (Make sure you enter all 3 digits).
8) Press [Menu] to commit the number. You just created a new memory configuration.
8) Switch radio to Channel Mode. Your radio should be on the channel you just created.
9) Enter the channel name as described in the steps described earlier.

An there you have it. Fully field programmable.

* An important note. You must move pretty quickly through the steps otherwise the radio times out and returns to normal operation. You will find yourself repeating steps if you do not move fast enough.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM